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MILLIONS OF IMMIGRANTS took to the streets between March and May of 2006 in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and dozens of other U.S. cities in the largest social and poUtical demonstrations in American history. As the immigrants left work or school to join the marches, in some areas the protests, dominated by Latino workers, had the effect of a general strike, shutting down local businesses and blocking traffic in the centers of major cities. Many carried signs reading, "We are workers, not criminals" and "No Human Being is IUegal."
The massive demonstrations were disciplined and peaceful protests intended to pressure Congress to pass a new immigration law that would give miUions of undocumented immigrants the right to Uve and work in the United States with a path to citizenship should they so desire. Yet a year and a half later the demonstrations have subsided, the movement is divided, and Congress debates liberal and conservative immigration reform laws, neither of which may be passed.
What happened to the immigrant movement? What does the future hold for immigrant workers and their rights? How wiU the immigrant workers' movement affect the labor movement and progressive poUtics in the U.S. in the coming years?
Before turning to the millions and the movement, to politics and programs, let's consider one immigrant's experience.
One Immigrant: Samuel
SAMUEL, WHO DARES NOT USE HIS LAST NAME, spoke to a Methodist church group in Cincinnati recently. Unable to find a job in Guatemala, he crossed the border illegally and alone as a boy of sixteen and came to look for work in the United States. He didn't mention to the Methodists the corrupt and violent Mexican police, the chicanery of the coyotes, the robberies, beatings or sexual abuse that many immigrants experience, or the dangers of the walk through the desert. Always modest and understated he simply paused for a moment, raised his eyebrows and smiled and said, "It was dangerous."
After a month or so he found work in a town in Indiana. There Samuel slaughtered and butchered turkeys twelve hours a day, six days a week for the minimum wage though he was never paid overtime, never had a day off or a vacation. The work was hard, heavy, dangerous, and...